Potter Vs Black
by Jade Reilly Gates
Summary: Marauder fic. Sirius likes Remus James likes Lily. What will happen when Sirius proposes a challenge?


The day was clear and the grounds were clear at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Remus Lupin was lounging under a tree, reading a book in the late spring breeze. James Potter was, as always, showing off with his personal Snitch, Sirius Black was enchanting the grass to do a dance to amuse himself, and Peter Pettigrew was staring intently, awed, once again, by James' awesome ability.

These, my friends, were the Marauders.

Remus Lupin was known as Moony, due to his secret life as a werewolf once a month, I presume. He was always the quiet one, always restrained and the rational one. He was the one who kept the rest of the Marauders out of trouble. Moony was in the House of Gryffindor; he was the studious one.

Remus had mousy brown hair that fell over his eyebrows and deep green eyes peering up from his book as he watched his friends play around. He was about 5'8", medium build. He had a reserved look about him. His skin tone was pale but a light peach color.

James Potter, known as Prongs, was so named because of his Animagus form. He became a stag. He was, for lack of a better word, a show-off. He wasn't exactly the brightest student in the school, and he had his dumb moments, but for the most part, he was somewhat smart. He was also madly in love with Lily Evans; she hated him beyond reason. James was in Gryffindor, because of his bravado, and sometimes his bravery.

James had deep black hair that was always unruly, hazel eyes, and he was about 5'10". He had a high facial structure; his eyes sparkled when he smiled. He held himself proudly, especially in front of Lily.

After that is Sirius Black, nicknamed Padfoot, also named because of his Animagus. He turned into a big, black, shaggy dog. He was the adventurer; he liked to be the leader, and he was James' best friend. He was also secretly gay. If any girl in the school knew that, they would have been crushed. He was the school's "major crush" so to speak. Sirius was also in Gryffindor, because of his innate and undying loyalty, especially to Moony and Prongs.

Sirius had long, straight black hair. It fell into his face, covering at least one half of his face. He had a gaunt face; his skin was pale. His eyes were dark, a fathomless, deep grey, but they were dark and thoughtful, which completely negated his "true" personality. He was also about 5'10".

Then there was Peter Pettigrew. He was the outcast. The oddball. He was named Wormtail, because of his ability to turn into a small garden rat. He was always the one that trailed the rest. His friendship to the other three was quite odd, considering he was in the Slytherin House.

Peter had small, beady eyes; he was about 5'5", and his hair was already receding from his hairline. Needless to say, he wasn't the most attractive person in the Wizarding World.

He, fortunately, has no part in this tale.

They were in their sixth year, and this was almost the end of the year. They should have been studying for their exams (which Moony was doing), but were they? No. They were goofing off, which was what they were famous around the school for doing.

Today, however, Sirius had had enough of James' showing off.

"Prongs, would you quit it!" Sirius said, grabbing the Snitch out of the air. James looked at his friend in shock.

"Hey, that's mine!" he exclaimed.

"I know it's yours, but would you stop showing off? Lily's not around, you know!" Sirius snapped.

"What crawled up your arse?" James asked. Sirius gave him an impatient look and released the Snitch. James, however, didn't go after it and it fluttered off toward the lake. "You've been so irritable lately. What's gotten into you?"

"Prongs, can I talk to you?" he said in an undertone. He tucked his hair behind his ear. James looked at him quizzically and Remus looked up.

"Are you all right, Sirius?" Remus asked in a soft voice. Sirius looked up, a slight color to his cheeks.

"I'm fine, Remus; perfectly fine," Sirius said with a grin that James saw through right away. James grabbed his best friend and dragged him to the lake's shore. Sirius looked at James.

"It's Remus, isn't it, Sirius?" James asked bluntly. Sirius blushed fiercely. James smiled slightly and scratched his head. "You like Remus, don't you?"

"No!" Sirius lied. "Of course not!"

"Uh huh," James said, completely unconvinced. "So why did you blush like a little girl when he asked if you were all right?"

"I didn't blush, Prongs!" Sirius snapped, his color deepening.

"You're blushing now!" James pointed out.

Sirius sighed and looked to the lake. He itched at the corner of his eye, glancing anywhere but in James' direction.

"You tell him or I will," James finally said. Sirius looked at him, his eyes widening in shock.

"You wouldn't!" Sirius exclaimed.

"Ohhh, yes I would," James replied, a wicked grin dawning on his face. Sirius sighed and gave his "puppy eyes."

"Please, Prongs, don't," Sirius virtually begged.

"Hey Remus!" James shouted. Remus looked up, curious. Sirius placed his hand over his best friend's mouth.

"Don't you dare, Prongs, or I'll go right up to Lily Evans and tell her you're madly in love with her and that you have wet dreams of her," Sirius growled in James' ear. He could feel James squirm under him.

"Blackmail," James muttered as he pulled away from Sirius. Remus, thankfully, had gone back to his book, figuring it was something between the two of them. James was probably playing a joke on Sirius. Not like it was out of the ordinary.

"Damn right," Sirius said as he released his friend.

"So, are you going to tell him?" James pressed.

"Tell who what?" Sirius replied, feigning innocence. James sighed and looked into his friend's eyes.

"I'll tell him, I swear it," James threatened.

"And I'll walk straight over to Evans," Sirius retorted. "If you want the whole school to know about your moaning her name in the middle of the night, go right ahead, Prongs."

"I'll go right up to Moony and tell him you've been having homoerotic fantasies of him since second year," James replied.

"Ooooh, you play dirty, Potter," Sirius said, a challenge in his voice. "Tell you what. Let's make this a challenge. If I tell Remus I like him, before you tell Evans, I win. If you tell her before I tell him, you win."

"What does the winner get?" James asked, intrigued.

"Hmmm, the loser gets to publicly humiliate Snape," Sirius replied.

"But that should be the winner's prize!" James retorted.

"In front of Professor Dumbledore," Sirius said in testing voice. James' eyes widened, much like Sirius' had before.

"In front of Dumbledore?" James repeated. Sirius nodded with a wicked grin on his face. James bit his lip, obviously thinking very hard for his rather unused brain. Not that he was unintelligent; he just didn't use it very often. He obviously wasn't using it at the moment, for he agreed to the challenge.

"Fine; deal," James said, the challenge entering his voice. "Whoever admits their…lust first, gets to watch the other terrorize Snape in front of the Professor." Sirius nodded and grinned wickedly. James mirrored him.

Sirius walked straight over to Remus, but the words got stuck in his throat, and flopped down beside him, his hand on his forehead. _What have I gotten myself into? Damn you Prongs,_ he thought.

James had begun his trek toward Lily Evans, but lost his nerve halfway there, and retreated back to the home front. _Damn wimpy Gryffindor! Surely you can do better than that!_ he thought.

Hours passed and both James and Sirius were very quiet until the sun went down. The four of them then retreated back into the warmth of the castle. Remus caught up with Sirius, who was walking quite a bit faster than the rest of them.

"Hey, Padfoot," he said as he walked parallel to Sirius. He glanced over at Remus.

"Hey, Moony," he replied.

"Um, just a question, but what was with you and Prongs this afternoon?" Remus asked. "First you were lighthearted and such, and then you both went very quiet. I don't think I heard two words out of you since you had come back from the lake's shore. That's not normal, Padfoot."

"Well, James and I kind of have a challenge going on," Sirius explained. Remus' eyebrows rose.

"As always," he replied. "About what this time?"

"Well, see, I can't exactly tell you; it's a secret challenge," Sirius replied with his mischievous grin in place.

"Well, all right then," Remus said as they reached the Great Hall. "See you tomorrow Padfoot."

"See you," Sirius replied, waving. _Wimp, _he told himself._ He was right there for the taking!_

James was in the Common Room already, sitting by the fire, glaring over at the other side of the room, where Lily Evans stood in all her glory. Her bright red hair flowed down her back and her green eyes shone in the candlelight. _There is my Venus, my goddess of love, and I can't even say two damn words to her!_ He thought angrily.

He saw Sirius walk into the room, and judging by the look on his face, James figured he hadn't gotten any further.

"Rough night, Padfoot?" James poked. Sirius glared at him. James sighed. "Same here, mate."

"You mean you haven't gone up and swept Lily Evans off her feet yet?" Sirius replied irritably.

"No, actually I haven't, Sirius," James snapped back. "Put the claws away, mate. This day's done."

They walked up to the boys' dormitory and promptly fell into bed, both dreaming up new strategies for winning over their interests.

Sirius woke up the next morning before James, a plan firmly set in mind. He dressed quickly and rushed down to the Great Hall. He wasn't paying attention to where he was going, and he ran straight into someone running down the stairs.

"Oof!" he said as he began his downward tumbling of the stairs. He lay sprawled on the floor. He looked up the stars, disoriented, to see the shocked face of Remus Lupin rushing down to him.

"Padfoot, are you all right?" Remus asked, kneeling beside him.

"Fancy meeting you here," Sirius said, rather dizzily. He had completely forgotten his strategies, and stared deep into Remus' green eyes. Remus held out a hand, and Sirius took it, reorienting himself. When he was standing, he didn't let go of Remus' hand.

There was electricity in their touch. Sirius couldn't bring himself to pull away as their eyes met. Sirius moved closer, but right as their faces became close, Molly Prewett knocked into Remus.

"Oh, I'm so sorry, Remus!" she exclaimed. She looked from one of them to the other. "Am I interrupting something?"

"N-no, nothing at all," Sirius replied, stuttering as he said this. Remus looked at him curiously.

"Padfoot, we're going to be late to Defense Against The Dark Arts," Remus commented. Sirius nodded and began to follow Remus to class. _Damn you Molly Prewett! _He thought to himself. _I was so close too._

James, on the other hand, hadn't gotten very far with lily Evans. He'd said hi to her, but he'd not gotten very far after that.

Sirius met James in the classroom, and saw him with a sulky look on his face. "Mate, have you even said two words to her?" Sirius asked.

"One," James replied miserably. "Hi."

"Get a move on, man," Sirius said, right as Remus came up beside them.

"Look who's talking," James muttered.

"Hey, I've said more than one word, buddy," Sirius said in an undertone. "I think you got the worse end of the deal."

The class went by rather uneventfully. Notes were taken, lectures were given, and assignments were turned in. It was all a regular school day for the rest of the school.

Not for Sirius Black and James Potter.

Sirius had tried numerous times to find some time alone with Remus, but school schedules were too hectic, and (as always) Remus was frequently in the library.

James had finally said more than one word to Lily Evans.

"Hey Evans," James said, blocking her way in the hall. She gave him a scathing look that withered what little courage he had drawn up.

"What do you want, Potter?" Lily said. "Here to try and impress me again?"

"Actually…no," James said. "I, uh, just wanted to say that, uh…"

"Spit it out, Potter," Lily said impatiently. "You're blocking my way; you realize that, right?"

"That's actually why I'm standing here; this is the only way I can get you to talk to me," James said, fumbling over his words.

"Get out of my way, Potter," Lily said, pushing him aside. James sighed and watched her walk away, rubbing his shoulder where she'd pushed him. _She touched me…_ he thought goofily to himself.

Sirius had been attempting to write out a letter to Remus in his class, and ended up doodling on the paper. He drew hearts with Remus' name.

Dear Remus, I like you… 

He looked at the parchment and sighed, crumpling it up. He tossed it across the room, into a wastebasket. He pulled out another piece of parchment and pressed his quill to the parchment.

_Dear Remus, _he wrote on the paper. He was stuck from there. He shut his eyes and thought of him; a slight grin dawned on his face.

_Dear Remus,_

There's no easy or smart way to say this. For some reason, half of me doesn't even want to tell you at all. It's a big secret that I've been holding in for some years now. Sure, James knows, and he uses it against me. Anyway, I digress. The point of this pointless letter is to confess something to you. It's not easy for me to say, nor is it really something I should say, but here goes.

_Remus John Lupin, I like you. Okay, I don't like you. I've never **liked** you. From the moment I met you, I was, to use the most cliché word in the world, in love with you. My love for you is bigger and stronger than anything has ever been in my life…_

_So there you go. I love you._

_With all my love,_

_Sirius_

He looked at the still-drying ink and had the sudden impulse to crumple it up too and throw it away, but he felt a nagging in the pit of his stomach. He felt he had to give it to Remus. He felt Remus had to know the truth.

James, surprisingly, was doing something similar. Unfortunately, he was not quite so eloquent as his best friend.

Lily, I know you hate me with every fiber of your being, but I don't hate you. In fact, I really, really like you.

He sighed and scribbled it out. To him it sounded childish and stupid (which it really was, in fact).

"Blast," he muttered, throwing the paper into his book. "This is so stupid. How come I agreed in the first place?"

_Because you can't back down to a challenge,_ his mind taunted him. "Shut up, you!" he mumbled to himself.

"James Potter, is there a problem?" asked the Transfiguration teacher, Professor Minerva McGonagall. She was a young woman, somewhat tall, and average weight. She had her hair up in a tight bun.

"No, no problem, Professor," James replied, sitting straighter in his chair. McGonagall had that effect on even the most mischievous of students.

After the class had ended, Sirius slipped the note into Remus' bag, his cheeks becoming a painful shade of red as he walked in the other direction. He ran straight into James on the way.

"Well, don't you look…colorful?" James remarked. Sirius gave a sheepish grin. "Don't tell me you did it?"

"Um, kind of," he replied. "I wrote him a letter."

"Damn you, that was what I was going to do!" James shouted. "Did you give it to him? Did you?"

"Yes, I did!" Sirius snapped.

"You haven't won yet," James replied.

"Won what?" Sirius said, forgetting about the challenge in the heat of the whole affair.

"Won what! Padfoot!" James exclaimed. "Our challenge, you dope."

"Oh," Sirius replied, feeling still more sheepish. He ran his hand through his hair, biting his lip. "Sorry, I've just lost track of just about everything."

"So I've noticed," James replied. "Class is going to start again. See you in Charms." James walked the other way, and Sirius leaned against the wall, sighing to himself. _How will he react? I hope I don't lose him as a friend if he doesn't feel the same. Can't believe I didn't think of that before._ He frowned slightly and sighed, rubbing his temples.

He made his way to Charms class, and saw James trying to talk to Lily.

"Come on, Lily, why do you hate me so much?" James prodded. Lily looked quite impatient.

"Because you're a showoff and you think you're the best," Lily replied coolly. James sighed.

"That's not true," James said.

Sirius diverted his attention from the two of them to Remus walking into the room, a small grin upon his face. He walked straight up to Sirius and handed him a letter.

_Dearest Sirius,_

_How is it that you took the words right out of my mouth? I love you too, with all my heart and soul._

_Love always,_

_Remus_

Sirius grinned, and slipped his hand into Remus', as he figured a kiss would have been inappropriate for the considered setting. James obviously didn't think so.

"No Evans, I don' think I'm better than anyone," James replied. "I think you're much better than me."

Lily looked at him with surprise. "Potter, humble? What's gotten into you?" she retorted. James grinned.

"You," he said, leaning in and kissing her. She closed her eyes for a moment, obviously enjoying it, but then stepped back.

"What are you getting at, Potter?" Lily demanded.

"I'm saying I like you, Lily!" James retorted, in a loud voice. The entire class went silent. The room buzzed with shocked anticipation.

"Hey, Potter, I win!" Sirius shouted. Remus gave him a quizzical look, and Sirius smiled at him. "Remember our secret challenge?" he said softly. "I said I would tell you I liked you before he told Lily."

"Oh…it's always a challenge with you two," Remus said with a shake of his head.

"Yeah, I know," Sirius said with a smile.

"What do you mean you win!" James shouted. Sirius held up his hand, Remus' clenched within it.

"I win," he said plainly.

"What do you mean, he wins, Potter?" Lily asked, raising an eyebrow suspiciously. Potter's cheeks colored fiercely. He hadn't thought about this.

"Well, Black and I…we had a bet," James started lamely.

"A bet? And it has to do with me, right?" Lily asked.

"Yes…well, kind of," James stuttered. "I mean, the bet was, I liked you, he liked Remus, and he bet me he'd tell Remus before I told you…and he won."

"I guess I'm just a bet then?" Lily snapped.

"You take everything so damn personal!" James snapped. "Everything's so negative with you! Can't you get it through your skull that I like you? Can't you understand I'm not just superficial? I do have feelings, you know! I don't know why I love you."

"You _what_?" Lily asked, dumbstruck.

"I love you, Lily Evans," James replied. "Damn it all, I love you!"

"You have a funny way of showing it, James Potter," Lily said in a soft voice.

James stepped closer; he wrapped his arms tightly around Lily, and pulled her in for a passionate kiss. Lily was shocked, but this time didn't, or more of couldn't, pull away.

"I have to say, theirs was much more entertaining," Sirius muttered. Remus laughed and shook his head, laying his head on Sirius' shoulder, snaking his arm around Sirius'.

"Ahem," stated the Charms instructor from behind Molly Prewett. "I'm glad it is spring and love is in the air, but exams are as well. If you would all kindly take your seats."

James blushed, and took a seat beside Lily, which was a daring move on his part. She glanced at him and gave a small smile. One of her friends was offended, huffed and walked over to the other side of the room.

"Thanks," Lily mumbled. "I hated her anyway." She giggled softly, wrapping her arm around James' elbow.

Sirius and Remus sat near them, and their fingers entwined under the table; they glanced at each other and smiled. Remus leaned over and kissed Sirius on the cheek lightly. They both blushed, obviously both unused to this kind of thing.

The class went by quickly, as nobody was paying much attention to the lesson. By the time they had gotten out of class, half the school knew that Lily and James were dating. No one really knew about Sirius and Remus, which was the way they liked it. They both would have hoards of females after them.

After, Sirius walked up to James and grinned wickedly. James looked at him, suspicious of his best friend's motive. He arched an eyebrow at the wicked grin place firmly on Sirius' face.

"What do you want, Sirius?" he asked, trying to play it off as cool, but he had a feeling. This was probably about Snape.

"You know what I want, Potter," Sirius replied in a soft voice, stepping closer to his best friend.

"Do I? James asked, getting more nervous by the moment. The devilish look in his best friend's eye was scaring him.

"You remember the last bit of the challenge, right?" Sirius whispered in his ear. James groaned, obviously hoping Sirius would forget.

"Of course I remember," James replied. "Terrorize Snape in front of the Professor." He didn't want to do it, of course, but it seemed Sirius would be forcing him to.

"Well…" Sirius said impatiently. He tapped his foot on the ground, looking expectantly at his best friend, who was glaring at him.

"Today!" James asked, slightly panicked. "How am I supposed to pull that off?" He put his hands in his pockets.

"Yes, today," Sirius said. "You know I'll think of something." He winked evilly at James, a smirk appearing on his lips.

"Damn you, Black," James muttered. He walked across the Great Hall, stopping Snape in his tracks. Fortunately Dumbledore had just come down from one of the upstairs classrooms.

"_Furnunculus_!" James muttered, pointing his wand into Snape's chest, and boils began festering upon his face. Sirius laughed out loud.

"James Potter!" came the distinctive voice of Professor McGonagall behind him. James turned red as Snape fell to the ground, covered in boils, groaning in pain. "Detention! One hundred points from Gryffindor!"

"But Professor!" James protested. The argument began and became unintelligible as the entire school began to buzz with gossip around them. Girls were pointing at the infamous James Potter, caught in the action.

"You are so cruel, Sirius Black," Remus muttered. He had figured out the bet by the conversation between James and Sirius. He chuckled and tilted his head.

"I know," Sirius replied with a grin. He ran his hand through his hair as he watched his best friend get yelled at and Severus Snape twitching on the floor, temporarily forgotten in the fray.

"But I love you," he whispered. He nuzzled Sirius' shoulder lightly. Sirius looked at him with an adoring look in his deep eyes.

"I love you too," Sirius replied, bending down to place a light kiss on Remus' lips as James got dragged away from the Great Hall by his ear, led by Professor McGonagall. Lily looked half-amused, half-worried, and she sent Sirius a death glare, that he didn't receive, because he was involved with Remus.

"Oi, Black!" Lily shouted. Sirius looked up, and saw Lily. She had her hand planted on her hip.

"What?" Sirius asked.

Lily came up and smacked him on the cheek. He frowned as he felt the sting on his cheek. Remus looked confused.

"You so deserved that," Lily said before Remus or Sirius could say anything. "You and your bets, I swear."

"What are you on about?" Sirius asked, cradling his face in his hands.

"Ugh, boys!" Lily grunted and walked away from Sirius and Remus. Remus looked up at Sirius and smiled. Sirius couldn't help but smile back.

"Women," Sirius muttered. Remus nodded, entwining his hand tighter with Sirius' as they watched Lily walk toward the mingling students.


End file.
